to do. >> remarkable survivor. before we go, i want to take a quick look at the election totals. ken cuccinelli hanging to a three-point lead. that the it for us. more election night coverage at 10:30 p.m. eastern and check out the web cast. go to ac 360 don't come that starts later. starts later. "piers morgan live" starts now -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this is "piers morgan live." welcome to the viewers in the united states and around the world. we have breaking news in election coverage. wolf blitzer with the latest on virginia's race, too close to call and jake tapper in new jersey with chris christi who won big tonight. here in new york a live shot of the empire state building up in red, white and blue and polls closed moments ago in the race

from there and we'll have that information as we go. i want to begin with wolf blitzer who has up to date results. wolf, tight in virginia. bring us up to speed. >> close race, piers, in virginia unfolding right now. the battle for governor in a state that play as crucial role in deciding presidential elections. let's update you on the vote tally as it's coming in right now. 48% for ken cuccinelli, the republican 45% for terry mcauliffe and the libertarian third party candidate. 76% of the votes tabulated 37 vote plus -- 37,000 vote advantage for ken cuccinelli, right now as we stand. in new jersey as you know cnn projects the republican governor chris christie easily winning a second term, a victory that positions him well for a possible run for the white house. and in new york city, the democrat bill de blasio wins.

he'll be the first democrat to win the city in two decades. he'll succeed the independent mayor michael bloomberg. let go to john king at the magic wall. virginia shaping up to be close, what, 75% of the vote in cuccinelli slightly ahead? >> 2 2,800. the key area starting to fill in deeper blue. some of this was lighter blue a long time ago. this is where elections now in battle ground virginia are won or lost. the virginia suburbs just out side of washington dc, fair fax county, louden -- >> hold on one second, i want to enter rent for a second. look at this, 80% of the vote is in, only 22,000 votes, cuccinelli slight ahay ode. 47% to 46%. 7% for sarvis with 80% of the vote now in in virginia. only 22,000 votes separates

cuccinelli from mcauliffe. >> no, that's what we need. important to note, we see the red there, republicans have to win and win big. most of the vote, the bulk of the vote more than 80% of the vote in central virginia has been counted. waiting for most of the outstanding votes, the bulk are up here. that's a traditionally democratic area. if these colors stay the same, dark blue and as votes continue to come in, there are more than enough votes here for terry mcauliffe to make up the gap. with 80% of the vote, bet they are more and more nervous. couple hours ago they thought they had it by a descent margin. with 2 2,450 vote lead for the republican now, this is it. it comes down to the d.c. suburbs and again, outstanding vote in louden county, prince

william, fair fax county. more than enough votes but performance time for terry mcauliffe. >> alexander, the northern suburbs, the fastest growing part of virginia i suspect and a heavily democratic part. we'll see how we tabulate those votes. so a close race in virginia now, not so close in new jersey. no so close where you are in new york city. >> thanks so much. we'll be back through the hour but for now with dana bash at terry mcauliffe's headquarters. dana, what is the mood there? is it confidence or twitching? >> reporter: nothing quiet about the confidence and you would think they would be openly nervous what we heard about the numbers from wolf and john, but the reason they insist they are confident they will pull it out is because of the vote right where i am, where he is having this victory party in northern virginia. they are still waiting for a lot

of the votes to come back and this is where they have been working very, very hard to boost the voter turn out. it always about voter turnout. we say that in every election but this kind of election which is off year, generally, they get less than half of the percentage of votes during a governor's race which is obviously off year and doing the presidential year. but this time they really were trying to boost it to maybe about 40 -- a little over 40% with the hope that that at least from mcauliffe's point of view would get him over the line and have him end with a comfortable lead. he's not there yet, but they certainly -- you can see this is a pretty frestive atmosphere an insist they feel confident they will do this and send a he is sage nationally what terry mcauliffe, the former dnc chair of bill clinton and hillary clinton said on the campaign train will rest nate and translate to the democratic

message going to midterm elections, which is what they call the extreme tea party movement has been blunted big time with what they hope will be a defeat of the current attorney general here ken cuccinelli. >> thank you. we'll be back to you once we get a result there. i want to bring in peter hamby. any sign of white flags being raised peter, or is there a little bit of hope in the air? >> reporter: well, look, it's been kind of an up and down mood here, piers. in the everything they were depressed here and bracing for a loss. once the second wave of exit polls came out and results were posted, there was sort of a mood, an optimistic mood, talking to reporters, donors, as far as i can see they left. going back down stairs to the offices. this race was never going to be a 10, 12-point win for

mcauliffe. a poll showed that margin and when the poll a few days later showed about a four-point lead, probably closer to reality. so, you know, the mood here, you know, there is a little bit of optimi optimism. this is hosted by the republican party of virginia, not just the cuccinelli campaign. so races in the house on delegat delegates. so yes, they are still bracing for a loss here, piers, but, you know, as we've been saying, probably closer than public polling indicated. back to wolf blitzer and john king. wolf, was it expected to be this close, peter suggesting that the polls were reasonably close but not as quite as tight as we're seeing. should they panic slightly in the mcauliffe camp and if he just sneaks over the line, what does that say for the bigger picture? >> when there is a win of usually and they will be thrill fd they get e lelgted terry

mcauliffe and the democrats will take it any way they can get it. the polls going into today showed about a six-point advantage for terry mcauliffe over ken kucuccinelli, 46%, as u see for terry mcauliffe but 20% of the vote out standing and a lot of that vote, john king, is in northern virginia outside of washington d.c. a pretty democratic area. >> these two counties, fair fax and prince william counties, high lighting them. slightly further, an urban area, this is about 40% of the outstanding vote here. why does that matter? let's do a presidential history lesson. this is fair fax county. it close inside to d.c. right here. look at that obama wins almost 60-40. that's what terry mcauliffe needs because there is a lot of voters. if you look at the counties, turnout is nowhere near.

you move further out, more competitive, prince william county, again, more than enough votes to turn that margin. terry mcauliffe needs to keep this blue. as you look at the map here, dark blue means heavily democratic vote. a lighter blue is a lighter leaning democratic but not by a strong margin. if the rest of the votes come in here, wolf and stays dark blue, there are now have votes to make up that 2 2,000 vote difference. when you look at the map, the reason this race is so close is essentially as we count the final votes, both candidates performed where they need to. smaller rural counties where republicans need to run up numbers, ken cuccinelli did that. african american population blue, what the democrat needs to do, democratic counties but virginia decided right here it a big state, but it is now decided by the four or five counties here on washington dc that's where the population great is and the largest pocket of latino voters are, college educated

women. the swing voters in virginia are big swing voters in america. that's why this state is a fascinating national laboratory. when you dig deeper and do this and look at exit polls, this was an evenly divided state. this was a fight over obama care and the government shutdown and tea party and a fight over social issues. if it stays as close as it is and mcauliffe ekes it out, people will study money and adds on social issues. >> and women to see how they voted. piers, let me update viewers. 81% of the vote is now. it's very close. 21,000 vote difference between ken cuccinelli and terry mcauliffe, the democrat, 47% to 46%. so this race, obviously, close. still got a ways to go. we'll have to wait the old fashioned way to see, piers, and count the actual votes. >> that's rather exciting, wolf, for you and john and us. let's come back to you guys when you got more breaking news on

this moving situation in virginia. for now i'll go to somebody who knows all about virginia vu's politics. he used to be the governor, mark warner at mcauliffe headquarters. thank you for joining me. the spirit dana bash told me, noisy confidence there. is that how you would describe it? >> i think the votes that are still out as john was talking about look good for terry. i think he'll be successful tonight. we've already won the lieutenant governor's race. so i think it going to be a good night for our team, as well as some of the house of delegates but i think it's a bigger message is frankly, folks in virginia just as we see perhaps in new jersey, they are tired of politics running too far outside the extreme. virginia got hit worse than the most any other state by the stupidity of the government shutdown and i think they saw particularly in some of the republicans that same extremism. >> what does it say about the

situation nationally, what is going on in virginia? because the tea party clearly repelled by the -- ted cruz a forced to be reckoned with going forward. if they take a defeat tonight, al be it, a close one, what will that do to senator cruise's chances, keeping his momentum going? >> listen, american politics always had a strain of extreme misp but after we swing outside of that strain comes back to a more moderate. i actually -- i'm a strong democrat but believe in a strong two-party system. i hope the republicans come back because that's where you get it done, jump starting the economy needs us to stop bickering a bit in washington and get some things done, work with the president on improving the health care plan and that takes reasonable people, not the our way or the highway approach. i hope if we see mccall with a

victory the size i think it will be, there will be perhaps a rethinking that having folks that realize is compromise part of politics is not a bad thing to happen. >> finally senator, given chris christie's thumping victory tonight and support from democrats where he is, how concerned would you be if he ends up being the republican nominee? is he more of a threat perhaps than a romney type character or ted cruz? >> well, i think that it's touch to prognosis. as a former governor, governors more than senators are sometimes viewed by actually what they get down, but i think that, you know, part of governor christie's challenge if he goes nationally would be actually fighting off some of that tea party inside the republican party. but that the a ways down the road. >> senator warner, thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you. it's extraordinarily tight race in virginia and has implications from coast-to-coast. joining me to break it down, the

director of the university of politics and author of the kennedy half century. welcome to you. what do you make of this tonight? is it surprising it's going down to the wire like this? >> certainly the margin is closer than expected. you know, we always rely on polling averages, if you take all the recent polls together, mcauliffe had about a seven-point lead. i looked at the all outstanding votes and they are disproportionally democratic. you would rather be mcauliffe than cuccinelli. we're talking a few points, not seven points. one vote or a million, you're governor for four years so i don't know the practical impact. the republicans, the conservative republicans will certainly take heart from the fact that cuccinelli has bn done better than expected and it will make it difficult for moderate republicans to move the republican party back toward the

middle. >> when you look at chris christie's big win and what's happening in new york with a democratic mayor finally after two decades, what is the big picture nationally if you take it all in totality from tonight? >> well, it's mixed, as it always is especially when you have three big races, new york, new jersey and virginia. the national headline for me is chris christie winning so big. if there is a message for republicans, it's clearly in christiest 60% of so. we're so polarized as a country today, it really is remarkable any time a democrat can win a heavily red state, a heavily republican state or a republican can win a heavily blue state. christie has shown the way. the question again is whether the republican activist, conservative, tea party, whether they are willing to embrace somebody as moderate

conservative as chris christie. >> coming up next, chris chris tee's big win and jack tapper and there and more on new york's new mayor bill deblast owe. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hoe'saving. sa the most about yo matters most t at masutual we're owne by ou, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. shhhh!

i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. it dsn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting tihistamine. oh what a relief it is! see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innotions that w for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. here we honor the proud thaccomplishmentsss. of our students and alumni. people like, maria salazar, an executive director at american red cross. or garlin smith, video account director at yahoo. and for every garlin, thousands more are hired by hundreds of top companies.

each expanding the influence of our proud university of phoenix network. that's right, university of phoenix. enroll now. we've got a frame waiting for you. at od, whatever business you're in, that's the business we're in with premium service like one of the best on-time delivery records and a low claims ratio, we do whatever it takes to make your business our business. od. helping the world keep promises.

the latest news from virginia, very tight race, back to wolf blitzer in washington, wolf? >> by the minute it's getting tighter and tighter as the sexual vo actual votes come in. ken cuccinelli and terry mcauliffe. 47 to 46%. a little while ago, a 20,000 vote difference and now down to 6,784 votes a. very, very close race right now. still plenty of votes out there. we'll figure out where those votes are outstanding. let's look at the headquarters right now. in virginia mcauliffe and christie headquarters in new jersey waiting to hear from chris chris tee. we'll see what happens over there. cuccinelli very much in this race now. we're watching it closely. john king is watching it with

all of us, as well. shaping up to be very close in virginia. it's surprising terry mcauliffe and his campaign spent a ton more money than the republican cuccinelli. >> they had more than the repub can groups. i'll show you why if you're a betting man and we're not. we'll count every last vote. if you're a betting man put your money on terry mcauliffe, even though he's 10,67 votes at the moment. why do i say that because he's behind at the moment? let's look at the counties up here. this is where virginia won in a close election. let's look. louden county outside of washington, mcauliffe 53% of the vote to come there. if he keeps that margin, he'll make up the dech sit. that's luodoun county.

terry mcauliffe still winning, 50% of the vote in there. more than enough votes to make up the deficit there. lastly, fair fax county is more democratic county that n the otr two. 57% of the vote in. i'll get these out of the way and show you. the bulk of the vote to be counted are up here in the more moderate, more democratic of late, virginia suburbs just outside of washington dc. to win the republican win, that's the republican race for governor four years ago. bob mcdonald carried those. look at the strong red strength. president obama in 2012 carried them at the moment. at the moment as we count the votes, most of them are up here. terry mcauliffe has a strong lead. more than enough space to make up what right now is an 11,000 vote deficit. >> let's look at that vote now with 85% of the vote. so close, 11,424 vote difference between cuccinelli and mcauliffe.

46% to 47%. the libertarian party candidate with 7%. 15%, piers, still remaining outstanding and a lot of the 15%, northern virginia counties that are right outside washington dc populated areas of virginia and largely democratic. piers? >> on the left, cross fire's van jones and newt gingrich. he's the author on "break out" and the epic battle that will decide america's fate. let's start with virginia newt gingrich. close over there. likely still you would say that mcauliffe will edge it, but what does it say that it's been so close? >> i think it's remarkable and you had mcauliffe 15 points ahead, 10 days ago. he out spent 4-1. i think the key difference is one word. obama care. cuccinelli shifted over and

pounded on obama care and mcauliffe supported it. that lead at best current projections from a 15-point lead to 1 or 2-point win. that has to be sobering to every democrat up in 2014. >> van, how significant is the presence of the 47% of the vote here, i mean, if you took that out, could cuccinelli have probably won this? >> yeah, it's interesting and shows a problem here that the republicans and consecorvatives have to deal with. chris chris tee doesn't like that movement. it can go it's own way and went it's own way and will probably wind up costing him. this thing is a lot closer than we thought it would be in virginia. you got two factors, the libertarian movement and the extreme right wing policies of cuccinelli, those two things together give us a win in that column and i think it submits a real stronghold.

we got the democrats won lieutenant governor's race there. it's already been called. we'll win the governorship and i think the republicans got to go back to the playbook and figure out how to do an autopsy on their autopsy because apparently, they didn't learn anything from 2012. >> newt gingrich, let's talk briefly about chris christie's big win tonight. it was widely predicted but come in big across the board in almost every demographic he has succeeded very well tonight. what does that say about his potential chances of being the republican nominee perhaps for a run at the white house. can he convince his own party? never mind anybody else. can he convince his own party that he's the man that can actually win a general election? >> i think he certainly has a real possibility of convincing people. he's going to be taken very seriously. he's winning 36 points ahead of mitt romney in new jersey and cuccinelli is running ahead on romney in virginia. so, you know, from a republican

perspective what we would like to win is virginia and it's still close. i think the fact is everywhere we do better than we did in 2012 and in the case of christie, i think his win will be big enough and impressive enough and wide enough, women, latinos, african americans, he has to be consider add serious candidate. i don't think anybody is a front runner but he's certainly in the front rank of serious candidates for 2016. >> just take a short break, stay with us. when we come back, more election results and the latest on chris chris tee's big win in new jersey. that runs office and has a keyboard. but i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox, so my downtime can be more like uptime. that's why i got a windows 2 in 1 which does both -- works as a laptop and a tablet. so i can manage my crazy life, and also have a life. [ beep ]

gotta go. ♪ to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. kand i don't have time forise. morunreliable companies.b angie's list definitely saves me time and money.

for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

welcome back, it's turning into a squeaker down in virginia. back to wolf blitzer and john king in washington for the latest. wolf? >> piers, it's getting closer and closer and closer. only 3,355 votes separate ken cuccinelli from ken mcauliffe. it's getting closer and closer and closer. take a look at what is going on in virginia. we'll keep pounding these votes, and see who will be the next governor of virginia. will it be the republican ken ku cuccinelli or mcauliffe, a close friend of clintons. 355 votes separate these two candidates now. it was more earlier. it's getting closer and closer. in new jersey we obviously projected that chris christie will be reelected easily as the next new jersey new jersey governor and will stay in office.

41% of the actual vote is in. 59-30%. 556,000 plus and 368,000. it's a landslide. you see the pictures over there. at christie headquarters in new jersey, applauding right now. i think they are watching cnn. let's wave to them. hi, guys, at christie headquarters in new jersey. go ahead and keep applauding because i think you like our coverage. let's hope you do. we're standing by to see what happens in new jersey. chris christie will speak and we'll have coverage of that when the governor is ree lelected to term. chris christie reelected, lots of suspension in virginia. >> looks like the 2016 campaign will begin in new jersey but counting votes in a key 2013 race in virginia. wolf, 3,355 votes. ken cuccinelli ahead because he performed so strongly in the

republican down tips in central virginia but, but, i want to say this but we're waiting for votes. 87% of the vote count the statewide. we're focussing on counties outside of washington dc because they are the new population centers and swing centers. loudon county, a five-point win there. democrat to win that county is impressive in a close race. that's a close race. president obama won it in the presidential race. the current republican governor bob mcdonald won it four years ago. prince william county, swing county tends to lean more republican and terry mcauliffe with a 3,334 vote. more than enough votes in this county to make the difference. that's half the vote there. here more importantly, fair fax county, the closer to d.c., the more democratic. fair fax county across the

boarder. terry mcauliffe and a bit further out, winning by a bigger margin. 67% counted there. if these margins continue as the rest of the votes come in fair fax and prince william county, this are more than enough and mcauliffe will pass cuccinelli. >> a third of the votes need to be counted. major communities. piers, i'll come back in a second. let's show the viewers the vote. 88% of the vote in, under 3,000 difference between cuccinelli and mcauliffe. that's a tiny fraction. 8 800,0 0 thoutz. 12% of the vote remaining outstanding and a lot remaining in northern virginia in fair fax county right outside of washington d.c. piers? >> wolf, john, thank you both

very much indeed. chris christie is the big success story. jake tapper is at the headquarters and celebrating his win. jake, you spent a lot of time with the newly-elected or freshly elected governor chris christie today. what do you make of his general demeanor because it's a thumping victory and across the demographic board reading stats, 56% women, 21% black, 45% latino, that's a republican dream going into a general election. what does it say? >> that's the case he's trying to make. first of all, greetings from new jersey i should say. we're here at the head quarters and a celebrating crowd. people are excited and of course, this is about more than just being governor and about more than new jersey because governor christie is very clearly trying to make a case to the republican party nationally that there is a way to win back the white house by appealing to

democrats, by appealing to independently dents, by appealing to minorities, and reaching out beyond republican based voters. that has been what governor christie has been saying since he became governor here. talking about trying to win and reach beyond. obviously, this is a blue state. president obama won this state by 14 points in 2008. he won it by 18 points just last year and yet, we see the returns coming in. governor christie at least right now up 20 points. this is a state that the last governor to the last republican governor to break 50% was tom cane, the last republican to do better than 50% in the state of new jersey was george h.w. bush in 19 88. if these margins hold, this will be a strong message governor christie believes, a strong message to the national republican party to reach beyond and in fact, when he and i talked earlier today, we

discussed that. we discussed the idea of leadership and not necessarily having to be pure on one side or the other, but taking a stand for what you believe in. here is what he had to say. >> they think that that's the way people make decisions. it's kind of what i was implying in the last answer. they think people go down a cze checklist of issues, proand conand go down the sheet, if there is more checks for this person than that person, that's who i vote for. that's not the way people vote in my experience. i think that voting is much more vis real. people say can i trust this person? do they lead? do they tell me the truth. if we win tonight, it will be, i believe, an affirmation of leadership. >> that was a response to a question in a conversation he and i were having, piers, about first of all, some republicans saying he's not pure enough. he's not conservative enough to

be a presidential nominee and also, some democrats who look at what is happening here in new jersey and saying this is the triumph of personality over politi politics. this is not serious politics. he says that's not true, it's about leadership. >> fascinating stuff with the man of the moment tonight. let's go to wolf blitzer in washington. wolf, you got an update from virgina? >> look at this, i must say wow, it's getting really close. only 386 votes. ken cuccinelli ahead of terry mcauliffe, well, it just changed, now it's 5,000. terry mcauliffe has now taken the lead by nearly 5,000 votes. look at this. it changed as we were speaking. 91% of the vote is in. terry mcauliffe with 47%, ken cuccinelli with 46%.

9% of the vote remaining. it changed. you see what is going on right now in virgina. john king, you were suggesting when the votes are counted in fair fax county, terry mccall lich will do better. >> this is where virginia is changing. virginia is a case study of what is happening in america. younger voters moving in, latino population, technology industries, these counties changed so much over the last 15, 20 years making virginia used to be reliably red and now purple and trending into a blue state. we've been waiting for those votes. terry mcauliffe shy of 5,000 votes. why? if you look at this, again, women, 51% women, 49% men, even split, right? terry mccall liauliffe targetin. if these numbers hold up that will be a key factor in the case. move over, if you look at this, this so changed in virginia. a lot of people think of

virginia as a conservative state. look at this, the largest chunk moderate. where do moderates live? suburbs in fair fax, prince william, arlington outside of washington d.c. look at this number here, 55% of moderates breaking for terry mcauliffe. a third of the vote going for ken cuccinelli. terry mcauliffe winning right now. again, this is what we see tonight right now. when the republicans won the governor's race last time watch the northern virginia counties. that's what happened. this is where virginia decided when president obama carried the state in 2012 blew up here. it's right up here in the d.c. area. let's come back to where we are now at 91% of the vote. terry mcauliffe with a very narcotic low le narrow lead. >> nose those of us who live in d.c. area were bombarded with

commercials and it was ugly what they accused each other of. >> they said terry mcauliffe was corrupt and running a bunch of lousy businesses and from terry mcauliffe saying cuccinelli far right extremist. they said a very hash campaign. much more spending on the democratic side. republicans will say look at that narrow margin and proves terry mcauliffe is a weak candidate with spending to just eke out a win if numbers old up. it's a cliche but well used for a reason, a win is a win is a win. >> let me take a look at the votes one more time before we go back to pierce. look at this. 91% of the vote counted in virginia. terry mcauliffe, the former care man of the democratic party ahead by nearly 5,000 votes, 47% to 46%. once again, robert sarvis, he's got 7% of the vote.

i think historians will look at virginia, whatever the result and say what was the impact of robert sarvis on this race for the virginia governor? 5,085 votes now and terry mcauliffe ahead of ken cuccinelli. a close race, piers. it's not over yet. >> certainly isn't, wolf. we'll come back with more information and come on the virginia's governor race. what does it say about 2016? my panel will weigh in after this short break. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day.

healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. it can strike at any time. and once you feel it coming... it's almost too late. or is it? introducing new fast acting advil. it's built for speed with an ultra-thin coating and fast absorbing advil ion core™ technology, nothing works faster to stop pain in its tracks before it gets worse. nothing. new fast acting advil. look for it in the white box.

i put in the hourswhere i am today by luck. new fast acting advil. and built a strong reputation in the industry. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i've made my success happen. so when it comes to my investments, i'm supposed to just hand it over to a broker and back away? that's not gonna happen. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want. talk to us today.

back with more election night coverage. 2013, joining me stephanie cutter, bill crystal, editor of the "weekly stand" and candy crowl crowley. candy, start with you, let's talk about chris christie because i suspect he's the big story tonight, isn't he? this is a clear marker, i could be the guy that could win the general election. >> he is a big story and my argue that cuccinelli coming this close is amazing looking at the polls.

chris christie, this is the story he wanted. he wanted this lead line close to 60% the last time i looked, which is a massive win. he'll do well -- better in the demographic groups that eluded republicans, latinos, african mer cans, women, women, women. there are more women voters than men and vote in higher percentages. this is his presentation tomorrow morning. he won't have to say a word. in someways to me, chris christie is to new jersey what bill clinton was to arkansas. he was a moderate democrat in a red state and chris christie is a -- calls himself a conservative. a lot of people see him as a moderate. whatever you call him, a republican in a blue state proving you can win there. >> bill crystal, let me turn to you. it is a big defeat for the tea party what happened in virginia even though it was so close or is the reality that if you

hadn't had this independent candidate getting perhaps 7% of the vote they could have won and then it could have been a big win? >> ken cuccinelli won better in virginia than mitt romney. romney wasn't the tea party candidate. cuccinelli did not run a good campaign. he was shut by the shutdown. when the government shutdown ended, what, three weeks ago, october 17th. cuccinelli was down. not because he was a better candidate but out spend massively 4-1 because of obama care. so for me the two big take aways is chris christi as candy said he's an impressive governor and politician and will be a force to be reckoned with nationally and obama care is toxic. it was dominating in the last two weeks. cuccinelli closed and terry mcauliffe embraced it and said he would expand obama care more, include virginia in the medicaid program under obama care,

cuccinelli said i'll do everything i can to resist and tight obama care and that's what enabled enough le enabled cuccinelli to make it as close as it was. >> stephanie? >> it's a rejection of the republican party which is different than bill said f. you look at what is happening in new jersey, chris christie ran not on as a republican but moderate and the thing that bolstered his numbers were her can sandy where he put politics aside and got heavily criticized by the republican party. look at the exits of new jersey. even though chris christie an overwhelming win for him, they project the republican party. 58% disapproval and in virginia you see the race, the votes are out in fair fax so we don't know the margin. the margin will be significant. cuccinelli is losing won women because of abortion and more.

83% of the virginia voters are opposing the tea party. that means something. that means that the republican reboot that happened a year ago, which we haven't seen yet, hasn't worked, hasn't appeared and really need to think about how they will run in the future because what they are doing isn't working. >> take a short break and come back with the latest election update from d.c. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. i get out a lot... except when it's too cold. like the last three weekends. asthma doesn't affect my job... you missed the meeting again last week! it doesn't affect my family. your coughing woke me up again. i wish you'd take me to the park. i don't use my rescue inhaler a lot... depends on what you mean by a lot. coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com,

then talk to your doctor. there may be more you could do for your asthma. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel leaves this surface cleaner than a germy dishcloth. it's durable. and it's 3 times cleaner. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to bounty duratowel. it's durable. and it's 3 times cleaner. on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan. no one could have left this much money here. whoo-hoo-hoo!

yet many seniors who compare medicare d plans realize they can save hundreds of dollars. cvs/pharmacy wants to help you save on medicare expenses. talk to your cvs pharmacist, call, or go to cvs.com/compare to get your free, personalized plan comparison today. call, go online, or visit your local store today.

steph new cutter, bill crystal and candy crowley. candy, how much significance can we attach to what's gone on tonight? >> chris christie ace big player. if we didn't know that before we certainly know that tonight. but there is a danger of overinterpreting these results across the nation. consider for instance there are 30 republican governors right now. if mcauliffe wins there will be 29. 30 republican governors right now, a des of whom are in states that obama won, many of them quite handily. governorships often are one offs. we do, notice in jake's interview, people to exactly what chris christie says. they size up the person. there is an x factor when you go to vote for governorships.

because that's closer to home. that has to do with leadership. much more than party. it gets more party-oriented on the national level. >> i think we may have some breaking news. i'm going back to wolf blitzer and john king. virginia has been teet. wolf, do we have a verdict? >> i think we have something that terry mcauliffe supporters will be happy to hear. we are able now, piers, to make a projection. and cnn projects terry mcauliffe has been elected, will be the next governor of the commonwealth of virginia. the former chairman of the democratic national committee, the close pal of bill and hillary clinton. he will be the next governor. we make that projection based on the vote tallies that are come in. let's take a quick look right now. almost all of the votes have actually been counted. well over 90%. terry mcauliffe is ahead by a significant number. he will beat ken cucinelli.

terry mcauliffe wins a close race, closer than some were projecting. dana bash is standing by at mcauliffe headquarters. they just heard us make the pro sque projection. they are all pretty excited. >> reporter: that is an understatement. all the various organizations have already called the race. it seems as though this has been the moment they were waiting for, to hear us project that terry mcauliffe their candidate that they worked so hard for will be the next governor of the commonwealth of virginia. i have to tell you that this is a moment that many people thought was going to happen hours ago because of the way the polls were look going into election day. they felt that there was going to be a pretty comfortable and early lead and early victory. but they'll take it now even though it's a little bit later

than they thought it was going to be. as you can see, a lot of happiness here that the man who everybody has known nationally as somebody who was the democratic national chair, the close confidante of the clintons will be the next governor of virginia. a major player in national politics when it comes to swing states, bellwether states for 2016 next presidential election. >> excited at mcauliffe headquarters in virginia. john king is with us. let's take a look at the actual vote, john, then we'll discuss how terry mcauliffe did. terry mcauliffe the winner. there he is, you see the projection that we just made with 96% of the votes now, in he's up by 17,120. 47% to 46%. only 4% of the vote yet to be counted. john, how did he do it?

>> he did it by winning where the people are. if you look at the map, see all this red think ken cucinnelli had to win. but he can thank the people will in the suburbs of northern virginia. that's loudon county. prince william county, to the south of d.c. about 70% of the vote counted, 11-point margin there. bigger margin for terry mcauliffe there. and in fairfax county closer to washington, d.c., 21point gap. 91%. this is an hour ago or so terry mcauliffe was trailing, when the votes came in they provided the margin of difference. why was this such a close wrestling match? the exit polls are fascinating. these will be studied looking ahead to 2014 and 2016, because this state is now such a bellwether state in presidential

politics. ken cucinnelli, 53% of the voters in virginia oppose obama care. look at that. 80% of that more than half of the electorate who opposed obama care broke for cucinnelli. the president at the moment is underwater in the state of virginia. they went for ken cucinnelli and yet terry mcauliffe ekes out a win in the moderate northern suburbs, more than 70% opposed the tea party. mcauliffe linked ken cucinnelli to the tea party. yes, this was about the government shutdown. yes, this was about obama care. but a lot of the ads in the end targeting women voters. should abortion be legal? 60% of the voters in virginia said yes. look at that. they went for terry mcauliffe by an overwhelming margin.

you can thank the choice issue as well for helping him to the victory. >> the democrats concerned a lot of commercials against cucinnelli on that issue alone. piers, so terry mcauliffe will be the next governor of virginia. >> wolf and john, thanks very much indeed. back with my panel. bill crystal, what's the takeaway tonight. when we wake up tomorrow what are going to be the key themes going forward? >> i just got an e-mail from a republican running for federal office in 2014 in a competitive race. here's what he says. "a divided republican party in virginia, a libertarian candidate getting 7% of the vote, a government shutdown weeks before the election in the place where it heart the most and still much closer than expected. i know they will try but hard to see how the democrats and media, i repeat myself, forget the partisan jibe there, hard to see how democrats can see anything other than obama care doom." actually republicans will come back and press the assault on obama care. >> that's pretty clear. stephanie, how will the obama

administration repel this given that's clearly where the assault will come? >> well look, i think that it's no secret that republicans oppose obama care. but candidates matter here. campaigns matter. terry ran a great race, stuck to the issues that the people of virginia cared about while cucinnelli continued to get more and more extreme. that's the lesson. >> i've got to leave it all there. thanks very much indeed to my panel. that's all fours. stay with cnn on the election surprises and jake tapper at 11:00 and crossfire and live at 11:30 with all the winners and losers. we'll be back at midnight. "ac 360 later" starts right now. good evening, everyone. welcome to "ac 360 later." 2013, the picture tells the story, moments ago jubilation broke out at terry mcauliffe headquarters in virginia. we can now call the election. let's go to wolf